Planning Board — October 27, 2026

The Fairhaven Planning Board met on October 27, 2026, to conduct regular business and establish priorities for upcoming Town Meeting articles. A scheduled public hearing regarding Coastal Villages Partners LLC for 4 Earl Street was opened and continued to November 10, 2026, pending an ongoing stormwater peer review by the engineering firm Horsley Witten. Board members approved the meeting minutes from September 17 and September 22, 2026.

A significant portion of the meeting centered on prioritizing a list of potential zoning and regulatory topics for the spring Town Meeting. The board ranked their top priorities, placing Chapter 40A statutory changes first, followed by Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) updates, use table revisions, lot size modifications, parking minimum reductions, and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) bylaws. Lower priorities included canopy and balcony solar, cottage communities, fee schedule updates, and data center regulations. Member Jennifer Cardoza distributed a template worksheet to help the board begin framing a local BESS bylaw in coordination with town emergency officials.

In other business, the board endorsed a support letter drafted by Mona Phillips concerning state legislation for plug-in balcony solar, agreeing to copy relevant state legislators and conference committee members. Town Planner Dawn presented departmental updates, announcing that Fairhaven was awarded a Resilient Coast Technical Assistance Program grant in partnership with the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), Woods Hole Group, and AECOM. Additionally, she notified the board of an approved site plan review by the Acushnet Planning Board for P.J. Keating, noting the town had no immediate grounds to appeal.

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